1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a portable fountain applicator handle for providing a continuous flow of a liquid coating to an applicator head. In another aspect of the present invention, the present invention pertains to a check valve which is preloaded to close independent of back pressure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to enhance the beauty of and protect the surface of various items in his environment, man has applied various protective coatings thereto. Most commonly the coating applied is in the nature of a paint, however numerous other coatings such as shellac, varnish, white wash, or oil finishes are also used in certain instances. When the surface being coated is a flat surface, the coating is typically applied using a brush, a roller, or a powered spray gun.
When the coating is applied to a large uniform surface, it is necessary that an even layer of the coating be expeditiously applied covering the entire surface with a minimum amount of spillage or spatter to adjacent surfaces. Previously, the coating has been applied by dipping the brush, roller, or other applicator in a pool of the liquid coating and when the applicator obtained a proper quantity of the coating, moving the applicator to the surface being coated and applying the coating to the surface. While this system does work, it has the dual disadvantages of providing a varying quantity of coating to the surface and dripping the coating onto other environmental surfaces creating an unsightly and difficult to clean mess.
The application of the varying amounts of coating to surfaces requires the operator to make multiple passes of the applicator over the surface being coated to produce a uniform film of the coating. When multiple passes are not made to level the coating film, unsightly drips, runs, or "lace-curtains" often result. In addition, the application of an uneven layer of coating causes, in some instances, uneven life of the coating manifested by premature chipping or peeling of the coating from the surface. Multiple passes over the coated surface require increased operator time spent on coating a given surface.
The increase in time both decreases the operator's productivity and increases the cost of coating the surface.
When the applicator is periodically refilled from the coating pool, it is advantageous that the operator maximizes the amount of coating being moved to the surface. In maximizing the quantity of coating being transferred, however, the operator increases the probability of drippage from the applicator into the environment when the applicator is moved from its filling area to the surface being coated. Such drippage and spillage is at the very least unsightly and is potentially damaging to the surface spilled upon. To prevent the spillage, it has been common practice to lay down drop clothes and the like to prevent such spillage. The additional step of laying down drop clothes caused further expenditures of time and money and decreases the efficiency of the entire process.
The art is replete with various solutions to the problems inherent in simple brushes and rollers. The continuous feed solutions tend to fall into two classes, external coating feeds and internal coating feeds. External coating feed devices are typified by having an external coating container attached through the handle to the applicator using a flexible hose, with a pump urging the coating through the hose and handle thence into the applicator. Devices of this class, while resolving the difficulties of periodically refilling the coating applicator, tend to be rather large and require a certain amount of set up time and also a power source. Typically these devices draw the coating from a large reservoir and thus are more suited for applying the coating to large expanses of surfaces since the reservoir must be emptied and cleaned, or changed and the pump, the hose, the handle, and the applicator must be cleaned before another color or type of coating may be used in this system.
The second group of applicators are typified by having a coating reservoir integrated into the handle of the device and means providing a controlled flow of coating to the applicator. These applicators do not need to be repeatedly moved between a coating pool for refilling and the surface being coated thereby minimizing or eliminating the opportunity of coating drippage into the environment. These applicators provide an essentially continuous, uniform flow of the coating to the applicator head in turn providing a uniform layer of coating transferred to the surface with a minimum of applicator passes over the surface.
Prior art is replete with unitary devices wherein a reservoir handle is attached to an applicator. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,337,899 issued Aug. 29, 1967, to J. Rentfrow. The Rentfrow patent discloses the roller with attached reservoir handle. The reservoir handle feeds a continuous supply of paint to the roller assembly in response to spring pressure. The coating flow to the applicator may be controlled thereto by a valve disposed in the supply pipe. The Rentfrow paint dispenser, like all other unitary paint dispensers, must contain a reasonable small reservoir so the paint applicator may be conveniently moved along the surface being coated. The use of the small reservoir requires the periodic filling. In refilling, a fill pipe must first be attached, the fill valve opened, and the fill handle retracted against the pressure of the feed spring. This procedure tends to be rather inconvenient and clumsy.
Drawing the fill handle against the urgings of the feed spring, the operator must hold the entire assembly steady with the fill pipe submerged in the container. After retracting the fill handle, the operator must close the fill valve and remove the fill pipe before the paint dispenser can be reused.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,659 issued to R. E. Stokes on Jan. 12, 1971, attempts to resolve the refilling problems by filling the removable paint container attached to the applicator handle. While this does make for a more convenient refilling of the paint applicator, it does limit the position in which the paint applicator may be used and prohibits inverting the applicator. Should the applicator be inverted, paint in the reservoir would obviously spill over the environment. Likewise, if the applicator were used to paint an overhead surface such as a ceiling, the supply container is now tipped on its side, a position where leakage is quite likely to occur.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,707 issued to Charles Herbrechter on Oct. 12, 1971, discloses another attempt at providing a self contained unitary applicator that can be conveniently refilled. The paint roller handle has a spring actuated deformable container defining its reservoir. The springs may be held compressed by detents. The roller is refilled by removing an end cap and pouring coating material into the expended reservoir.
While this resolves the inconvenience and clumsiness of retracting the spring loaded handle while maintaining a fill pipe in the paint container, it necessitates the use of a coating container from which the coating material may be conveniently poured from and further requires the roller be held in an upright and vertical position for refilling. Where the coating purchased in large volume containers, such as five gallon pails, this arrangement would necessitate the transfer of the coating to an intermediate container for transfer into the paint roller handle.
The known prior art has not been able to effectively overcome the construction, refilling, and convenience problems in this area.